The main show airs live on DDT UNIVERSE on Sunday 20th August at 3:00pm JST, 7:00am GMT, 2:00am ET and Saturday 11:00pm PT.

I was a guest on the Burning Spirits podcast this week to preview the show. The episode can be heard here.

Now that the 20 year celebrations are mostly done with it’s time to return to Neverland for DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017”! A lot has happened since Saitama Super Arena. DDT went viral for their portrayal of Donald Trump (even getting featured on @midnight), for having a Battle Royal on a moving train and for booking the Tokyo Dome for an Empty Arena Match. We’ve had the new generation establishing themselves in the main event and even got one to reveal his entire tragic life story because he believed it was all the champion’s fault.

So what’s in store for Sumo Hall this time? The show is headlined by the definitive rivalry of modern DDT, the previous ace teams with the ace of NOAH for tag team glory, hair will be chopped off, the company is put on the line against a wrestler’s romantic life (or lack thereof), two handsome men face off, multiple championships are on the line including a brand new 10-Man Tag Team Title, a new strong lad debuts and there will be some free for all brawls spread around the building.

?. Maybe A Dark Match: Kendo Kashin Vs Mitsuo Momota or Chikara

We’re going to start off with something weird that has been developing over the last week but has been simmering in the background for months. Kendo Kashin is an ideas guy and he never lets something like common sense or reality limit his plans. For his appearances in DNA and Ganbare☆Wrestling during the year, Kashin often threw out challenges for a 5 Vs 5 Elimination match to be held on this event’s pre-show with Kashin’s team representing IGF NEW. Nobody took the challenges seriously. Then this past week at the Ganbare☆Climax, Kashin got into confrontations with Mitsuo Momota. The tension between them raised so high that Kashin is now claiming he got permission from DDT to fight Momota inside Sumo Hall on the morning of “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017”, at 6:30am to be precise. DDT denies this and also revealed that they do not get access to the building until 7:00am. But DDT is interested in doing some sort of dark match featuring Kashin and Momota. They are, as of this writing, negotiating with both wrestlers to organise a match to take place outside the venue at 6:30am. Momota thinks it is a difficult task for him to commit to but his son Chikara has offered to take his spot. Kashin has also demanded Bomber Saito to be the referee. Momota is against that idea because he knows Kashin and Saito went to the same high school together so there is no guarantee Saito will be neutral. If this match goes ahead does this mean the bout will be a Dawn Match instead of a Dark Match?

Whenever DDT runs in Sumo Hall they can’t help but take the action out of the ring and even out of the building. Gota Ihashi is still cursed to fight for DDT only on the pre-shows because of his status as the King Of Dark Champion. At least DDT is giving him a bunch of opportunities to get rid of it. The rules for his upcoming challenge have not been explained yet but it looks to be a 5 match Gauntlet series, all of them being Falls Count Anywhwere. Mad Paulie, Gorgeous Matsuno and Dai Suzuki are the only opponents revealed so far but the remaining two entries have been kept secret. I have predictions for who they will be. Maybe one of them can be Jun Kasai because he has a habit of showing up for these kind of matches whenever DDT produces them, either as a participant or by getting in the way while working another job. And what if the other was Kota Ibushi? The DDT Falls Count Anywhere matches are right up his alley. Also Ibushi’s first wrestling match after the G1 Climax being a Falls Count Anywhere dark match for DDT in Sumo Hall is the most Kota Ibushi decision he could ever make. I mean yeah, the drama surrounding his relationship with Kenny Omega is captivating and all but you know his desire to Moonsault off of the Ryogoku balcony again is too strong to resist.

Now watch me be wrong and the two mystery wrestlers turn out to be Kendo Kashin and Mitsuo Momota making another appearance.

Not much to go on for this mixture of veteran lowcard and DNA wrestlers. Masato Kamino is the freshest face in the match after only debuting on 5th August. He’s trying to grab attention immediately by wearing a lavish entrance jacket that is allegedly worth 100,000 yen. Tomomitsu Matsunaga reclaimed his Sumo King throne during Beer Garden week. Nobuhiro Shimatani has been the butt of many jokes throughout the year. It remains to be seen if this is just rookie hazing or if this will be his role in DDT from now on. Hoshitango has had a quiet year, sticking to appearances for the more significant shows on the calendar. On the other side Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Diego & Daiki Shimomura have all been hard at work in building up DNA. Diego has the highest profile of all four by being a part of the ALL OUT stable. Watase has shown that when you remove him from last year’s romantic soap opera he has solidly improved in the ring. Rekka sadly missed an opportunity to grab the spotlight when his DDT show in Taiwan had to be cancelled. Shimomura has been able to climb a small step above his generational counterpart Shimatani.

The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title found its way to Tokyo Joshi Pro when the zombie girl Maho Kurone ended Joey Ryan’s international title reigns. Since then the belt did its thing and made its way through the roster until Cherry surprisingly got involved and won the title. Until now Cherry has had little to nothing to do with Tokyo Joshi, at least publicly as far as I know. But her determination to be the Iron Man Champion led her to show up and win the belt. So when it looked like Cherry would be the defending champion going into this Battle Royal she lost the belt to the brand’s general manager Tetsuya Koda at a fan club event. Koda claims that he wanted to guarantee the title would be staying in Tokyo Joshi and he would have passed the belt over to one of the girls. However he thinks all of them are equally cute so he couldn’t decide who deserves it most. His solution is to keep the belt for himself! It later turns out that Koda is going to a handshaking event starring singer Maria Makino later this month and he wants to impress her with a nice, shiny championship belt wrapped around him. Unfortunately for Koda, him being the champion means that he now qualifies as an active wrestler and he must enter the Battle Royal to defend the title! Further more, the joshi are pissed that he looked past all of them for a hopeless attempt at impressing some singer.

Yuki Ino is the latest in the growing line of DDT rookies to debut on the big stage. The 22 year old university rugby player had several opportunities from other sports on offer but he chose instead to go with pro wrestling. He is pretty strong with reports that he can bench press 205kg, dead lift 300kg and leg press 560kg. He bragged about smashing past the opposition on the rugby pitch and he will do the same in the ring. The kind of attitude might not mesh with another big ego standing on the other side, like say Naomi Yoshimura. The young brute is throwing bodies aside so he can claim to be the new ace of DNA. Now that somebody else of his size has entered the fray things will get interesting indeed.

I have one word for this: Overkill. You noticed how many wrestling promotions have established 6-Man Tag Team Titles recently? New Japan, DDT, Big Japan, Ring of Honor and Lucha Underground have all established such championships in the last couple of years. Dragon Gate has always had them so they can get away with it. Then the zombie corpse of FMW decided to come up with an 8-Man Tag Team Championship last year that has since vanished because, well, what do you expect from Atsushi Onita (Not a singles match that’s for sure)? Well, DDT decided to up the ante once more and create the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles! This probably came about after watching too much Super Sentai because the title belts follow a similar colour scheme. Red, blue, yellow, green and pink belts are on the line for the winners. And what a line-up of insanity DDT has decided to bring in for the two teams!

Toru Owashi is the captain of the side featuring Kazuki Hirata, Joey Ryan, Saki Akai & Yoshihiko. Hirata has spent the year in muted limbo because his entrance song could not be used on DDT UNIVERSE. He was also deported from Japan and replaced by his Italian cousin Hirata Collection A.T. The cousin’s entrance song was also muted so he was no improvement. When Hirata returned he was told to record his own version of “TOKYO GO!”. Lo and behold he pulled it off! Joey Ryan is coming off of a heated feud with Daisuke Sasaki over pictures of his wife Laura James. Saki Akai’s been making allies with foreigners, learning English to team with them and serving beer inside an empty Tokyo Dome. She also has the right to be DDT general manager for a day. Yoshihiko has just been laying around doing its own thing.

The other team is being led by Makoto Oishi and mostly have a flair for live performances. LiLiCo returns to DDT after her romantic life within the company last year went haywire. Lady Beard hasn’t wrestled in DDT much this year but is always ready to sing his heart out. Super Sasadango Machine will undoubtedly have a PowerPoint presentation ready. Ken Ohka is coming in fresh off of winning the Ganbare☆Climax in his home promotion Ganbare☆Wrestling. There are so many questions to ask. Who will win? Will either team get along? Does Ken Ohka still have his “FUCK” hat? Can the belts combine to form a Megazord? Will this championship have a longer shelf life than the WWE UK Title? Who knows?

We have two charmers here. The kind of people who light up any room they enter. Even though Shunma Katsumata got his start in DDT he first trained to wrestle in the dojo ran by the SMASH promotion. He never got to debut for them and he left before the company fell apart. Juro Kuroshio was also in that dojo and he did get his debut match. From their the two youngsters split apart. Kuroshio stayed with SMASH as it transformed into Wrestling New Classic, then when that went bust he jumped to WRESTLE-1 and became the lovable Ikemen he is today. Katsumata went to DDT where he was among the first generation of DNA wrestlers for the brand’s launch. He then became a pop idol as part of NωA. Now fate has brought them back together in a battle of handsome men. Kuroshio’s jacket Vs Katsumata’s singing. It’s possible Kuroshio’s entrance could last longer than the match. He likes to milk the chants by running through the audience and Sumo Hall is a big building.

Four teams are thrown together, maybe we’ll get some No. 1 Contenders out of it. Keisuke Ishii removed a ghost from his past by going back to the All Japan Dojo he left many years ago to train with Kaz Hayashi. He was taught how to properly use Hayashi’s finisher the Final Cut but he has yet to use it in DDT. Isami Kodaka has been busy running Pro Wrestling BASARA but he is stopping by with his usual Yankii Ni Cho Kenji partner Yuko Miyamoto. Miyamoto is here as part of Smile Squash for the upcoming Dramatic General Election so he’ll be looking for fan votes. Mike Bailey became cocky when he won a Right To Challenge Contract but has been a bit aimless when his cash in left him empty handed. He teamed with MAO once in July and are teaming again here. Kotaro Suzuki & Soma Takao seems to be a random pairing. Takao is still undefeated at “PETER PAN” with an 8-0 record. But given the number of teams in this match it is the biggest threat yet to his streak. Like I said earlier, I expect the winners will be chasing after a tag team championship afterwards.

Maybe I shouldn’t have trashed the idea of trios championships earlier. Then I look at the title history and see that Shuten-dōji became 6 time champions in the space of 3 years. If it wasn’t for the Iron Man Title, this right here would be the hot potato of DDT. Still, a championship is worth fighting for (King Of Dark excluded) and the challenging team are no slouches. Dick Togo is back for a special appearance with two of his guys. Yasu Urano is no longer affiliated with DDT but still shows up for shows like these. Antonio Honda is here to talk about Gon, The Little Fox. What is Gon’s story anyway? Maybe I can fill out the rest of this preview with the tale and hope that nobody would notice.

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You know what, I just looked it up and it’s best that I don’t tell it. Poor Gon, he only wanted to help…

Something drastic needed to be done for this special celebration of DDT’s 20 years of existence. Two of DDT’s most important figures will clash and the stakes are as high as they could be for both of them. Sanshiro Takagi has done it all. He created DDT and over two decades built it up to where they now run buildings the size of Sumo Hall on an annual basis. He even got to headline the Tokyo Dome this year… in an empty arena match. Anyway despite his hard work paying off, somebody out there thinks a better job can be done. Danshoku Dino believes Takagi has taken DDT as far as he can and it’s time for a new leader to take over. Dino should be that leader. So his stipulation is simple. If Dino beats Takagi, Dino takes over DDT! In order for this to go ahead, Takagi had to think of something for Dino to do if he lost. Inspiration struck when Takagi had a private conversation with Dino’s mother. Dino turned 40 years old this year he is still single. His mother is worried that he will live the rest of his life alone because there are not that many gay wrestlers available for him to date. A lightbulb went off inside Takagi’s head and he promised to help her. If Takagi beats Dino then Dino must go and get married!

So those are the stakes. One man’s wrestling empire against another man’s bachelorhood. Such an important match needs important rules so DDT is bringing back the Weapon Rumble. Takagi is a veteran of the match facing The Great Sasuke in 2009, Minoru Suzuki in 2012 and Michael Nakazawa in 2014. Every few minutes a weapon is introduced to the match. What it is could be anything. Bicycles, a castle of chairs, boiling hot stew, giant mechanical fists and most importantly of all, famous wrestlers from outside of DDT could appear. Expect a couple of unpredictable cameos in this match.

DDT are already coming up with ideas if Dino loses and has to get married. Top of the pile is “Danshoku Terrace House”, a reality show where Dino is forced to live in a house with a bunch of other people from all around the world until he picks a partner. Another idea is “Danshoku Bachelor” where 25 men and women compete for Dino’s affections. Both DDT UNIVERSE and Samurai TV! are interested in getting the rights to the show.

Somebody’s going to get a haircut. Daisuke Sasaki has been a scrappy DDT Extreme Champion ever since he won it from Jun Kasai inside Saitama Super Arena. He fought Dick Togo to a 30 minute draw in an Ultimate Submission Match, beat Antonio Honda in a No DQ Match and had two defences against Joey Ryan, one being a Last Man Standing draw and the second being a Ladder Match which Sasaki won. His record as champion hasn’t been 100% but he’ll admit when he’s beaten. Akito has beaten him plenty this year including a singles win during the King Of DDT. Everytime Sasaki lost to Akito he would hand over the DDT Extreme Title to him and walk out of the ring. Akito would be happy to accept the championship if it was an authorised title transfer but a ring attendant would always take the belt away and give it back to Sasaki. It led to a brief period where Akito couldn’t figure out how the concept of championships in wrestling worked.

When the time came for Sasaki to nominate his challenger at Sumo Hall, his usual request for Candice LeRae was declined. Again. Akito came out to challenge him. Sasaki would accept but only if it was Cabellera Contra Cabellera. Hair Vs Hair! Akito agreed because he is willing to sacrifice anything to become a champion again. Sasaki is fine with that. He claims he doesn’t care about his own hair so he’s willing to risk it too. It led to a weird situation during last week’s press conference where both Sasaki and Akito tried to cut off their own hair to prove how much or little it meant to them. Amon Tsurumi had to stop both of them from ruining the stipulation.

The match itself will have No Disqualifications and can only end by either submission, knockout or TKO. Sasaki has more experience in Hardcore Matches but Akito realises he can now use objects to cause even more limb damage for his submission holds.

Shigehiro Irie & Kazusada Higuchi will be the first to tell you they are not pretty boy ikemen wrestlers. They are bastards, guys, lads, YaroZ. The two have found success in the tag division since teaming together to represent the unconventional YaroZ sub-brand. Now as the KO-D Tag Team Champions they are challenged by the most powerful ikemen alliance of all. When Naomichi Marufuji was announced to wrestle on this show back in March I knew that he would be doing something with HARASHIMA. I though it was the perfect fit for him as an opponent. But they thought of a different idea and are instead teaming together. When HARASHIMA lost all of his remaining chances to headline Sumo Hall this year he told the wrestling media it was time for him to do something selfish. In previous years he did what was best for DDT but this year he wanted to do something for himself. Turns out it was to join forces with Marufuji and go after the Tag Titles. Plus there looks to be a business relationship being formed between DDT and NOAH. I mean DDT sent two thirds of NωA over for the NOAH Jr. Tag League. That’s kind of like giving your crush a mixtape.

While Marufuji’s appearance in the match would be interesting on its own, the other factor in the match is the rivalry between Irie and HARASHIMA. Poor Irie no matter how hard he tries just cannot beat HARASHIMA. Time after time, HARASHIMA has come out on top. It’s almost a certainty at this point. In their last meeting in June, HARASHIMA pinned Irie in under 3 minutes and Irie’s only reaction was to storm out straight back to the locker room. That has to be stuck in the back of Irie’s mind. Higuchi’s record against HARASHIMA is only a little better with a pinfall tag team victory earned back in April. History is in the challengers’ favour too. Whenever a high level DDT wrestler teams with a famous outside they usually win the KO-D Tag Team Titles. Examples include Shiro Koshinaka & Danshoku Dino, Daisuke Sekimoto & Masa Takanashi, MIKAMI & Tatsumi Fujinami and Yoshihiro Takayama & Danshoku Dino. The odds are against the champions but they wouldn’t be YaroZ if it were easy.

This is going to be the definitive match of DDT’s current era. So much history to delve into here. Former friends, former tag team champions together, both have been built up for the last 3 years to be the next generation of stars to lead DDT into the future. Konosuke Takeshita has been described as a supernova ever since his debut match in 2012. You can hardly dream of a better road to the top. When you get a significant debut match held inside Budokan Hall you know there are high aspirations for your career. From there you get special one on one matches with Tatsumi Fujinami, Kenny Omega, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, HARASHIMA, Isami Kodaka and Shuji Ishikawa all before he reaches 21 years of age. Then when he does turn 21 he wins the KO-D Openweight Title on his birthday. Like I said, it’s a dream come true. But while Takeshita has been positioned front and centre, his friend turned rival Tetsuya Endo took a different direction in his rise up to the main event spot.

While Endo and Takeshita were on a successful tag team run as the New Generation Combination, they fought each other several times with the KO-D Title as the reason. Whether it was a No. 1 Contender’s Match or a Championship Bout itself, the two were put in enough situations to find out who was better. And more often than not, Takeshita would win. As it currently stands Takeshita and Endo have had 9 single matches against each other in DDT. Takeshita won 6 of them (1 match was stopped when Endo dislocated his elbow), Endo won 2 and their last match was a draw. To make it even more frustrating for Endo, he couldn’t win the KO-D Title after two attempts while Takeshita achieved the goal with the same amount of opportunities. Endo ended up looking like the bridesmaid to Takeshita. So in July 2016 when Endo lost to Takeshita again, this time in a KO-D Title match, he was immediately approached by Daisuke Sasaki to join DAMNATION. When tempted with the promise that he would no longer be seen as a second class wrestler next to Takeshita, it didn’t take Endo long to make his decision and he willingly abandoned his friends to go down a darker path. Since then Endo has built on success while discarding his emotions. Although he’s been accused of faking his new nihilistic attitude to look cool, Endo can back up his actions with the success he’s earned since joining DAMNATION. The latest achievement was winning the 2017 King Of DDT tournament which leads us to the climactic main event at Sumo Hall.

So much has developed between Takeshita and Endo during the last year. Back in April we learned that 60 minutes was not enough to determine a winner between the two. Takeshita had been using the Cross Arm German Suplex for his most dramatic victories but he also developed a new Wrist Clutch Fisherman Buster called the Surprise Rose to put away his more recent challengers. If that’s not enough, Takeshita has one other big match move in his arsenal. He recently used the top turnbuckle Brainbustaaaaahhhhh!!!!! in tribute to his first opponent and inspiration El Generico. Endo meanwhile has turned the Shooting Star Press and Spanish Fly into killer moves. Endo won the King Of DDT with the Shooting Star Press. The grounded version of the Spanish Fly is called Tetsuya In The Sky and it has given him some unexpected quick victories. Then there is his top rope version the Tetsuya In The Sky With Diamonds to look out for. Is it now Endo’s time to shine or will Takeshita continue to shape the future of DDT? We won’t have to wait long to find out!

Welcome to The Future! DDT celebrated 20 years in business by running the main stage of Saitama Super Arena for “JUDGEMENT 2017”. In the main event the torch was passed as the 21 year old Konosuke Takeshita defeated HARASHIMA to become the KO-D Openweight Champion for the second time in his career. The biggest stage called for a major main event and both wrestlers delivered with a 30 minute long clash. HARASHIMA’s neck was targeted early and his title reign was under threat when Takeshita gave him a Vertical Drop Brainbuster on the arena floor. HARASHIMA was left outside to get counted out but he returned on 18. He then turned the tables by avoiding a Dragon Suplex and attacking Takeshita’s knees. The damaged limb would later prevent Takeshita from hitting the German Suplex because HARASHIMA would grab onto them. A Short Range Lariat kept him down for a two count but that only riled HARASHIMA up and made him provoke Takeshita to attack even harder. Takeshita went high risk by placing HARASHIMA on the top turnbuckle. That backfired when HARASHIMA turned it into an Avalanche Reverse Frankensteiner followed by the Somato! Takeshita kicked out at two so HARASHIMA went for the Swan Dive Somato. Takeshita caught him in mid-air but HARASHIMA twisted around for another Reverse Frankensteiner. This time Takeshita blocked it and gave HARASHIMA a Croyt’s Wrath style German Suplex for a nearfall. HARASHIMA took control again and this time gave Takeshita the Yama-ori head drop. With both men completely spent they traded Elbow Smashes until Takeshita punched the champion and followed up with the Bionic Elbow taken from his mentor Antonio Honda. He hit the German Suplex but HARASHIMA was still able to kick out. Finally Takeshita crossed HARASHIMA’s arms together for one more German Suplex and this time the champion was down for the count.

Takeshita thanked HARASHIMA after the match. Takeshita became a pro wrestler because he loves DDT so to be in the main event for the company’s 20th Anniversary means everything to him. He feels the pressure of being the future of this company but he will show everyone why he deserves that title as DDT moves into its 21st year. When the new champion finished the prize ceremony he was approached by Daisuke Sasaki and Tetsuya Endo. Sasaki said he knew Takeshita would beat HARASHIMA then pretended to cry. In truth, he doesn’t care about Takeshita’s accomplishment. DAMNATION will finish him and to prove it his first challenger will be Tetsuya Endo! Takeshita’s former friend said he does not know what the future really is but he’s not interested. In fact, the future he sees now is an eyesore. Takeshita accepted the challenge and they will get their match at Korakuen Hall on 29th April. The show then ended with a curtain call to DDT’s old theme song “Into The Light”. The final scene in the ring had Takeshita and HARASHIMA fist bump and agree to wrestle each other again some day. HARASHIMA went to leave the ring but Takeshita stopped him so they could leave together.

The weapons in the DDT Extreme Title match were provided by a company called Seki-chu and boy did Jun Kasai and Daisuke Sasaki use a lot of them. Tables, ladders, chairs, trash cans, rakes and even a wire mesh fence were used throughout the match. Sasaki came out on top but he had to put his body on the line to do so. Kasai was still alive and kicking after an Avalanche Power Bomb from the ladder through the fence. Even the NOW OR NEVER couldn’t put Kasai away. So Sasaki had to put Kasai on a table and climb up the ladder. With his last words being “I am Charisma!” Sasaki jumped off the ladder and hit a Diving Elbow Drop on Kasai. The table didn’t break but Kasai did and Sasaki became the new Extreme Champion! He threw the belt away, claiming he does not need it. He has words to say to Kasai, many of them that cannot be broadcast on TV but he cannot deny Kasai was at his craziest today. Still, Sasaki won’t conform. He won’t kiss ass. And he definitely won’t get married. “We are DAMNATION! And I am the Charisma, Daisuke Sasaki!”

Saitama Super Arena was taken back to the Romance Of The Three Kingdoms for a special 6-Man Tag promoting the Nobunaga’s Ambition video game. The series produce Kou Shibusawa greeted the audience before the match, telling everyone to enjoy video games and pro wrestling. All the wrestlers took part in their character costumes. Sanshiro Takagi wasted no time in building a castle of chairs in the ring. It was no surprise to anyone that he was thrown into the castle later. Isami Kodaka took out Daisuke Sekimoto with a Topé Suicida. Keiji Muto and Jun Akiyama faced off and had a stalemate when Akiyama hit the Exploder Suplex then Muto immediately fired back with the Shining Wizard. That left Kota Ibushi to give Takagi the Sit Down Last Ride followed by the Phoenix Splash to win the match.

When the segment was over Takagi stayed in the ring for an important announcement. He is happy to see so many people come out to see DDT’s 20th Anniversary. There is nothing left for him to do so he will retire immediately. Even though he is going away he is confident that DDT will grow bigger and bigger without him. He has no regrets even though he had announced a major goal at the 15th Anniversary show in Budokan Hall that never came to pass. He demanded the staff at ringside to give him the 10 bell salute and thanked everyone he could during each ringing of the bell. On the 8th toll he suddenly received a phone call. It turns out there is something left for him to do after all. Suddenly a picture of the Tokyo Dome appeared on the screen. Takagi announced that DDT will hold a Street Wrestling Match inside the Tokyo Dome later this year! Takagi immediately cancelled his plans to retire. There are still dreams and ambitions for DDT to come true!

Masakatsu Funaki & Yukio Sakaguchi overcame an ambush by DAMNATION to keep the KO-D Tag Team Titles over their shoulders. Even though Sakaguchi’s goal for the match was to kill Endo, he instead settled with pinning Shuji Ishikawa to win the match. Not an easy feat at all! Ishikawa blocked the Right Knee Of God the first time so Sakaguchi had to climb the turnbuckles and hit an elevated version of his finisher to put the big dog down. Their victory ceremony was interrupted when Danshoku Dino snuck into the ring and gave the match sponsor a Lip Lock. Dino told Funaki he’s made a lot of enemies over his career but he has never fought a hybrid body like Dino’s, nor has he fought a real Dramatic Dream Team like Danshoku Dino & Yoshihiro Takayama! Dino is here to lay out the challenge. Real No Fear wants the KO-D Tag Team Titles! Funaki realised the match is unavoidable. He and Sakaguchi will fight Real No Fear. But until then the champions will drink.

There is a lot to go through for the next match. A lot! At some point in the show Joey Ryan won the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title. I’ll get into more detail with that later. For now just know that Ryan now had to defend the championship against Danshoku Dino in an Anal Explosion Death Match. But first, Donald Trump appeared for a complete English PowerPoint presentation. Trump revealed that the most powerful person in DDT is not the president Sanshiro Takagi or the KO-D Champion HARASHIMA. It is really the referee Yukinori Matsui! If there is one thing that Matsui hates more than anything else in wrestling it is explicit sexual humour. Do too much of it in front of Matsui and you will get fired. However Dino is the “World’s Strongest Gay Wrestler” and Ryan is the “World’s Strongest Penis Fighter”. Matsui will watch the match backstage so they need to find a way to wrestle explicitly in a way that won’t offend him. Somehow, some way, an Anal Explosion Death Match is acceptable because in this situation “ANAL” stands for “All Nations Anal Love”. If that wasn’t enough, Ryan revealed that Dino’s friend and former Iron Man Champion Ryota Yamazato has been kidnapped by foreign agents. In 20 minute’s time Yamazato’s rear end will be used for the Anal Explosion unless Dino can win the match before then.

The time began to count down and the match was ready to begin. But first the National Anthems of America and Japan had to be played. Additional commentary was provided by Trump and Guanchulo in English, Hoshitango in Spanish and Rekka in Chinese. As the match went on Matsui kept a close eye on the action from backstage. Dino and Ryan fought up the ramp towards the commentary stations. Ryan’s penis flung Dino off the ramp and crashing through the Spanish announce table. Dino was later thrown off the top turnbuckle and he crashed through the Chinese table. The commentators were so mad that they attacked Ryan but he fought them off with his penis. When Dino recovered he gathered the commentators in the ring and placed them on the corner turnbuckles with their backsides exposed. He then overpowered Dino’s penis, getting revenge for the spot that caused all this in the first place. By the time he put the Lip Lock on Ryan, Matsui had seen enough and made his way to the ring. Trump realised the match was in danger of being cancelled so he sprinted backstage. Some of the DNA wrestlers distracted Matsui by treating him like a celebrity, shaking his hand and asking for autographs. Then a mascot blocked his path but Matsui knocked it down with one punch. He then shook its hand. Matsui walked past the women’s locker room and the temptation to peak inside was too much. When it turned out that Cherry was the only person in there Matsui was grossed out and moved on. Finally Trump caught up with Matsui and confronted him. They chopped each other back and forth until they both leaned in closer and closer. Then they kissed. Back in the ring Dino pulled Ryan’s lollipop out of one of the commentator’s backside and he then put it in Ryan’s mouth. That stunned Ryan long enough for Dino to do the Danshoku Driver for the victory. The two congratulated each other after the match and Ryan handed both the Iron Man Title and the bomb button over to Dino. Dino threw the button away and left his buddy Yamazato to get his ass exploded with three firecrackers outside the building. The screen went blank and we’re left with the message “There can be no peace on earth without pro wrestling” along with a picture of Sanshiro Takagi naked. Backstage Dino and Ryan started to act like friends but quickly started fighting again over the Iron Man Title.

Shungo Oyama did well in his debut but ultimately fell to Yoshihiro Takayama. The two locked up and threw punches in a scene that resembled Takayama’s famous fight with Don Frye. The slugfest ended with Takayama pinning Oyama with the Everest German Suplex. Dick Togo respected Oyama’s effort and noticed Oyama respects pro wrestling enough to fear it. KUDO hopes to team with Oyama again if Oyama decides to continue wrestling. Oyama said he felt at home fighting in Saitama Super Arena again.

Miyu Yamashita has caught Meiko Satomura’s attention but she’ll probably wish she hadn’t. Satomura pinned Yamashita to win the women’s match for her team but their interaction did not end there. Yamashita stood up to her from the apron after the match and Satomura’s reaction was to kick her away. In the post-match interview Satomura said she see will never forget what she saw in Yamashita’s eyes today. She’s motivated, that’s for sure. She would like to fight her one on one. Satomura’s partners however she is more friendly with. She felt a sense of unity with Saki Akai and Syoko Nakajima throughout the match. Akai admitted feeling a little of jealous of Yamashita for firing up Satomura. Aja Kong thought Nakajima was okay but small. Cherry was happy to wrestle in front of many fans and she appreciates the women coming together for this show when she previously spent years as the only female wrestler in DDT.

In the match between Shigehiro Irie and Mike Bailey, the Tazzmission proved to be the difference maker. Irie caught Bailey with the submission hold in mid-air and turned it into a Camel Clutch variat to make Speedball tap out. Irie still isn’t finished with his warrior training but at least he got to show everyone in Japan that his trips to America are not going to waste. Irie credited Ohio’s Rockstar Pro Wrestling in particular for his recent improvement. Bailey says Irie is now on the same level as HARASHIMA and Takeshita.

In the 8-Man Tag Match, Yuni found an opportunity to wear the Hirata GO! glasses and start dancing. Kazuki Hirata ruined the moment by knocking Yuni out with a chop to the back of the neck. Hirata put the glasses on and cleared the ring with his dance fighting. But he was then stopped with a Triple Dropkick from Jaguar Yokota, Keisuke Ishii & Masahiro Takanashi. Yuni then pinned Hirata with a Hurricanrana.

The 3 Way Trios match for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles was a crazy sprint but NωA came out of it with the belts. Yasu Urano countered Kazusada Higuchu’s Power Bomb into a Frankensteiner but Urano was then knocked down by MAO’s Screw Kick. Urano avoided the Firebird Splash from Shunma Katsumata but didn’t see MAO coming with the Cannonball 450. That move won NωA the championship and all three were in tears when they were handed the belts.

Many wrestlers from DDT’s past, some unexpected, came back for the Dramatic Rumble with the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title and King Of Dark Title both on the line. MIKAMI was out first with his ladder. Daichi Kakimoto was a surprise entrant wearing the mask he used in his Union Pro run. Poison Sawada JULIE eliminated loads of people with his snake magic. Unfortunately his endurance is not what it used to be and he fainted from overuse. Gorgeous Matsuno eliminated JULIE by accident when DJ Nira (who was not an official participant) pushed Matsuno on top of JULIE with his umbrella. Mad Paulie eliminated Gota Ihashi which means Ihashi is still the King Of Dark Champion. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi stood on top of Kotatsu and leapt off it to deliver a super Michinoku Driver II to Yoshihiko. Kotatsu eliminated a few wrestlers with its comfy quilt until Guanchulo decided to wear Kotatsu over him like a backpack. Munenori Sawa was the last surprise entrant. He hit Guanchulo with a Rabbit Punch and Guanchulo fell on top of Kotatsu. That counted as a pin so Guanchulo won the Iron Man Title. Ken Ohka was the final entrant but he and Sawa spent so long singing to his entrance music that Guanchulo eliminated them both to win the Rumble. His celebration was short lived when Yoshihiko dove on top of him from the stage to win the belt. Later on in the show Kotatsu won the title by pinning Yoshihiko backstage. Joey Ryan congratulated Kotatsu then used his penis strength to flip it over and claim the title for himself.

Mil Clown was accidentally unmasked during the Tokyo Joshi Pro dark match. Her mask flew off when Azusa Takaigawa gave her the X Factor. As much as she tried to hide her face, Clown eventually gave up and focused on beating Takigawa with the Magical Merry Go Round followed by the Mil Clutch α. Clown fled the ring as soon as she got her mask back on.

Naomi Yoshimura continues his aggressive streak by winning the DNA dark match for his team.

Kota Umeda was invited to the ring during the opening announcements. He was at the show as Yoshihiko’s handler but informed everyone that his recovery is going well and he will return to the ring this year. The other injured DNA wrestler Suguru Miyatake was supposed to be at the show but had to miss it because of the flu.

I was also a guest on the Japanese Audio Wrestling podcast last week to preview the show. The episode can be heard here.

Twenty years. Who would have thought DDT would last twenty years? Sanshiro Takagi’s brainchild was created in 1997 when he, MIKAMI and NOSAWA Rongai quit a promotion called Pro Wrestling Crusaders to form their own wrestling league. From there Dramatic Dream Team was born and it created a bizarre path for itself as time went by. From parodying WWE to experimenting with the elements of pro wrestling that have existed for so long that they were taken for granted, DDT became home to some of the most bizarre gimmicks and ideas in the business. But it had something else going for it. Among the island of misfit toys were some gems that have since gone on to be major players on the scene. The parodies and knock offs eventually transformed into more creative endeavours that can now stand on their own. The buildings being booked became bigger. The roster developed into something that the next generation of wrestlers now choose to be there rather than use it as a backup plan.

And it all leads to here. “JUDGEMENT 2017” the 20th Anniversary celebration for DDT is taking place in Saitama Super Arena. This is a plan years in the making. Originally DDT wanted to run the building in 2011 but there was no room on the Arena’s schedule to make it happen. In 2015 DDT booked the Community Hub section of the building for “SAITAMA SUPER DDT 2015”. Finally this year is the year they are running the full building. If that isn’t aiming high, remember that back at the 15th Anniversary show, Takagi announced his intentions to run the Tokyo Dome for the 20th Anniversary! Sadly that never came to pass but hey, Saitama Super Arena isn’t anything to sneeze at.

So let’s get to the card itself. DDT is following the format that a lot of others now use for their biggest show of the year. Cram as much as they can and give everyone a spot somewhere. This is going to be a long show, ladies and gentlemen. The Future attempts to replace the present, an angry warrior looks set to take on DAMNATION, furniture will fly in a charismatic death match, a 3 Way determines who deserves the trios championship, a viral video clip results in a World Wrestling War, two top singles wrestlers battle it out to move up the ranks, an MMA fighter shifts over to pro wrestling, a joshi legend teams up with a child, there’s a match filled with superstar samurai and much more is on the cards. So let’s dig in.

We start off with a staple match on these major shows, a Royal Rumble for the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title. However this time there is an added caveat in the mix. The King Of Dark Title is also on the line, hence why this match is on the pre-show. The current Iron Man Champion is Kotatsu, a literal table. Kotatsu has been unstoppable since becoming the champion. Its defensive capabilities is beyond anything seen from previous champions. As you’d expect from a Japanese table it is tough to break. But it has a soft side too. It has a quilt attached around itself that is so comfortable, anyone who sits next to it falls asleep. The current King Of Dark Champion is Gota Ihashi who recently reclaimed the title for the 6th time. The rest of the field is filled with many names from DDT’s past. MIKAMI had been with DDT for most of its existence and was the Jr. Heavyweight star in the group for many years. Poison Sawada JULIE had many forms but is best remembered as the dark snake magician. GENTARO was a dominant tag wrestler, teaming with Takashi Sasaki as the Akarangers. Tomohiko Hashimoto was one of Koichiro Kimura’s disciples and was part of a unit called B52 Special. Rion Mizuki was an ikemen wrestler who briefly has a Saint Seiya gimmick. Bambi wrestled in DDT under a mask as “Showa”. And then there is the usual lot involved too. It is possible that one of the titles will not change hands depending on the result of the match. It’s a complicated situation that the referees are trying to figure out.

Earlier this year DDT New Attitude reinvented itself into Fighting Gig DNA. It is still a development brand for DDT’s less experienced wrestlers but the plan is for the group to grow and become its own brand of wrestling. Naomi Yoshimura has quickly become a standout to me. He has the fewest matches out of the six wrestlers but the biggest ego and a powerful body to match. His generation counterpart Yuki Ueno is almost the opposite. Ueno takes a beating every match but he takes it in his stride. Daiki Shimomura and Nobuhiro Shimatani are friends/rivals who recently formed a team together called Gran Millimeters. Dai Suzuki just began a 7 match series where he must win or tie one match or else he must retire. He’s 0-1 so far. Rekka is the most experienced of the bunch by far, joining DNA from New Taiwan Wrestling. Everybody involved in this match are hungry and unsatisfied at just being in the pre-show. They are determined to have an exciting match because of this.

The last of the pre-show matches involved Tokyo Joshi Pro. DDT’s spin-off women’s brand has been around for four years now and has a colourful cast of idol wrestlers. Yuu is the current queen of the ring, holding the TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title. Her judo talent quickly pushed her heads and shoulders ahead of the rest of the roster. Mil Clown is a trickster from the Magical Country. She came to Tokyo Joshi to take the place of twin sister Yuka Sakazaki when she took a break to find herself. Itoh Maki is a former singer from LinQ and is convinced she is the cutest wrestler ever. Reika Saiki is the powerful Muscle Idol and a member of the Cheer♡1 cheerleader squad. Rika Tatsumi is becoming known for her Dragon Sleeper. It is no coincidence that her ring name was inspired by Tatsumi Fujinami. Finally Azusa Takigawa is the wrestler who is determined to get married. Her use of Zexy Magazine as a weapon in matches got some attention online this year including a request from the magazine’s publisher to stop doing it.

Tokyo Joshi’s influence continues into the main show. The two most established wrestlers from the brand are being put in with DDT’s two mainstay women as well as two joshi legends. Miyu Yamashita has been with Tokyo Joshi since its very first show back in January 2013 with Syoko Nakajima coming in a few months later. Yamashita was the first ever Princess Champion while Nakajima is a Tokyo Princess Cup winner and has been in the final for all three tournaments. Saki Akai and Cherry have a not so friendly relationship in DDT. Cherry was the token women’s wrestler for the DDT family until Akai the celebrity came in. Cherry has been jealous of her success and popularity ever since. Then there is the famed rivalry between Meiko Satomura and Aja Kong. I got to see their Sendai Girls match live last April and it was amazing to watch. Maybe Yamashita and Nakajima can impress the right people in this match and get an opportunity to spread their wings.

It’s surprising to see a match of this magnitude apparantly take place so early on the show but this is going to be a highlight for sure. To celebrate game director Kou Shibusawa’s 35th year in the business, DDT is teaming up with Koei Tecmo to put on a star studded match promoting the Nobunaga’s Ambition phone game. If you don’t know about that series then maybe you are more familiar with Dynasty Warriors or Romance Of The Three Kingdoms. Chances are if the Yellow Turban Rebellion is mentioned somewhere then this match relates to it. To get the most out of this match I suggest you grab a Playstation controller and mash Square over and over. It’s how I played through Dynasty Warriors 8.

To the teams themselves. On one side you have the Big President Sanshiro Takagi, the BASARA samurai Isami Kodaka and the Pro Wrestling Master Keiji Muto. On the other side there is the hard bodied Daisuke Sekimoto, the wise man Jun Akiyama and the nutjob who thinks showering in fireworks during a trip to London is a good idea Kota Ibushi. So far so good but to make things more interesting each wrestler is playing a different character from the historical video game series. There are also actresses involved, Mai Iriya is playing Sekimoto’s character’s wife and Kimika Tokuta is playing Muto’s character’s daughter. Ibushi turned down WWE for this and I couldn’t be happier. Twitter videos also show he has a blunderbuss as part of his costume because you know, giving Ibushi a gun is such a good idea.

Another mish-mash multi-person tag match. The focus here is on two people with around a 45 year a age difference between them. Jaguar Yokota wrestled for DDT once before back in June 2003. Teaming with her is the 3rd grade elementary student Yuni. The kid convinced DDT to train him as a wrestler and he’s had a few matches since his debut last December. During his time away from the ring he’s been bouncing on his bed trying to learn stylish moves like the Sky Twister Press. Yokota and Yuni have met and trained together in the build up to this match. They get along and Yokota warns she won’t forgive anyone who tries to bully Yuni in the ring. Joining their team are Keisuke Ishii and Masahiro Takanashi. Ishii has had a banner year since winning the AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title. Takanashi is firmly suited in his role for Shuten-dōji and can catch anyone with his pinning manoeuvres. Their opponents are Toru Owashi and the three people who annoy him. Kazuki Hirata wants nothing more than to dance on the biggest stage (sadly his music will be blocked on DDT UNIVERSE). Both Antonio Honda and Lady Beard are warming up their vocals and will probably be more interested in telling stories and singing karaoke rather than wrestling.

Former MMA fighter Shungo Oyama has fought many big names in PRIDE, K-1 and HERO’S. He’s fought Wanderlai Silva, Peter Aerts, Renzo Gracie (and a few others from that family), Dan Henderson, Cro Cop and Carlos Newton. He even once fought Sean O’Haire in a kickboxing bout! When his MMA career ended DDT sent him an invite to try out pro wrestling. It’s an idea he considered but put off for years because he was coming off of injuries and did not want to disrespect pro wrestling with a lacklustre performance. But he came round on the idea and figured it is better to do it now then never at all. He sent a strong message to Yoshihiro Takayama in February when they met in a DDT ring. Takayama tried attacked Oyama but was quickly put in a Sleeper Hold and choked unconscious. KUDO is encouraged by Oyama’s appearance. His advice to him is if he can see success then he can win. Takayama isn’t going to take it lying down though. He warns that all Oyama did was wake up the fighter inside him and he’s now hungry for blood! Takayama’s tag partner Dick Togo wants to remind everyone that even though Oyama is strong he is still a pro wrestling rookie. Togo is eager to teach him a lesson!

This is an interesting match up. Shigehiro Irie and “Speedball” Mike Bailey have both been recovering from set-backs after losing title matches to HARASHIMA. They are both on the cusp of hitting the main event level again but are taking different paths to reach it. Irie has been relying on excursions to the United States of America. The first trip saw him return to Japan much stronger and more confident than ever before. He was already planning a return to America when he fought HARASHIMA on Christmas Day but he wanted to bring the KO-D Openweight Title with him. That did not happen. Still, Irie loves spending time in America and did not take his latest trip for granted.

Bailey’s climb to the top is coming from his time teaming with Happy Motels and wrestling in DNA. He won the DNA Grand Prix on his own in October and then won the KO-D Tag Team Titles with Konosuke Takeshita in December. But Irie isn’t impressed. He’s given him the thumbs down after their matches together. Expect the winner of this match to start banging on the door for a title shot in the future.

Where do I even begin with this? DDT put together the most DDT match they could think of to promote DDT UNIVERSE to a global audience. On November 2015, Danshoku Dino and Joey Ryan faced off in a 6-Man Tag. Their interactions went viral and the aftermath has been following them ever since. When Dino was given 500,000 yen to find his dream opponent for Saitama Super Arena he went for the obvious choice. Triple H! Unfortunately he’s too busy trying to drain the European wrestling scene of its talent for NXT so Dino went for the next obvious choice. Joey Ryan! And to make the match even more appealing to a global audience, Super Sasadango Machine is creating a special PowerPoint presentation in Japanese, English, Spanish and Chinese for the match.

Everything surrounding the match was well and good until a few days ago when a certain powerful figure in the world of politics got involved. “Donald Trump” stepped in and declared the match a World Wrestling War between Japan and America. This is a serious situation that calls for a dangerous stipulation. Using the SWOT Analysis on Dino, Trump determined that Dino Vs Ryan should be an Anal Explosion Death Match! If such a match goes ahead then any scenes of graphic content will be censored on DDT UNIVERSE with this NSFW image.

Oh and Pro Wrestling Tees is sponsoring the match. Buy DDT shirts here. You picked a hell of a match to sponsor, lads.

Things will calm down for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles match. Three units clash and each side has its own story to tell. Team DNA are the champions going into the match. Kazusada Higuchi is the top man in DNA and has progressed far enough to fight for the KO-D Title a few times already. Kouki Iwasaki is a solid wrestler who is currently picking fights with Kazushi Sakuraba in DNA. Mizuki Watase has gotten his wrestling career back on track after a whirlwind romance with TV celebrity and former champion LiLiCo last year.

Smile Squash are the stronger of the two challenging teams. With Soma Takao recently joining the unit they’ve been on a strong run in tag matches. Akito is happy to team with him but Yasu Urano is pretty suspect of the situation. Takao himself admits he joined Smile Squash to wrestle with HARASHIMA and learn what it will take to beat him someday. Urano wonders why should a guy like that get to join the unit? Regardless, this team contains three skillful wrestlers with momentum on their side.

Last but not least is NωA. Their success in the ring is difficult to find but out of all the teams in the match they are the most tightly knit unit. They sing together, dance together and wrestle together. They released two CDs which nobody else on the show can boast.

Now we’re getting into the big matches. The last three bouts are going to carry the heavy end of the show so I have high hopes for them. The Hardcore Match is being sponsored by Sekichu and the weapons laid out around the ring will all be provided by them. Daisuke Sasaki is mostly over his infatuation with Candice LeRae but the idea that a championship can impress her may still be in his head. But if he has moved on from her he is now focused on getting rid of Jun Kasai. He stole Kasai’s goggles a month ago but Kasai got back at him by stealing his leather jacket. The items were given back to each other but the fighting continued. Sasaki is confident he will win. So much so he is already thinking of using his match winnings to buy a 65 inch TV to replace his 50 inch one. Is Sasaki charismatic enough to overcome Kasai’s violent streak?

DAMNATION’s presence continues on to the KO-D Tag Team Titles Match. Nobody has gotten Yukio Sakaguchi more riled up than Tetsuya Endo lately. Endo beating Sakaguchi in a singles match last month only made the bad blood between the two worse. Now Endo has his eyes the tag titles and he’s brining along Shuji Ishikawa to help. He’s also winding up Masakatsu Funaki by calling his Hybrid Wrestling style a thing of the past. Sakaguchi threatens that he will fill Saitama Super Arena with Endo’s blood!

The backbone of DDT defends his place on top against the future of the company. HARASHIMA is the most successful KO-D Openweight Champion in DDT history with 9 title reigns and around 28 successful title defences over the course of 10 years. Konosuke Takeshita left his mark on history by becoming the youngest ever KO-D Champion, winning the title on his 21st birthday. Takeshita wants nothing more than for HARASHIMA to be at his absolute best when they wrestle. He wants to beat HARASHIMA at his best so he can rewrite the history books and cement his place as the strongest wrestler to ever step foot in DDT. HARASHIMA assures him that he is constantly getting better every time he steps in the ring. He hears Takeshita’s claims that he is the future of DDT but HARASHIMA doesn’t think the generation shift will happen under his watch. HARASHIMA is thrilled to see DDT on the big stage like this after 20 years. He thinks beating Takeshita in the main event is a good way to kickstart the 21st year. The future of DDT is at stake. Is it time for The Future to take over?

We are now one month away from DDT’s 20th Anniversary show being held in Saitama Super Arena. The main event at Korakuen Hall was a special tag team bout containing the past, present and future of DDT. Generation rivals HARASHIMA & KUDO teamed together to defeat Konosuke Takeshita & Dick Togo. The victory was even sweeter for HARASHIMA because he pinned his Saitama opponent Takeshita to win the match. While Takeshita was still shaken by the Reverse Hurricanrana and Somato combo, he was still able to point at HARASHIMA while being taken away from the ring.

Sanshiro Takagi then took centre stage and was joined by almost the entire DDT roster. Only Takeshita and the DAMNATION wrestlers were absent. Takagi asked the audience what day it is. They answered “Pro Wrestling Day”. Takagi said they were correct, the first international pro wrestling match in the original Sumo Hall took place on 19th February, 1954 when Rikidozan & Masahiko Kimura fought the Sharpe Brothers. On the same date 20 years ago Takagi was preparing DDT’s first ever show. Today, DDT is one month away from running at Saitama Super Arena. Takagi thanked the fans for their support throughout the years and is looking forward to seeing them in Saitama next month. HARASHIMA took over and said everyone in DDT is different but together they will succeed so DDT will celebrate a 30th anniversary, a 40th anniversary and a 50th anniversary!

Tetsuya Endo got the jump on Yukio Sakaguchi with a German Suplex before their match began. Endo left the ring but a pissed off Sakaguchi dove over the ropes on top of him. Sakaguchi later countered the Torture Rack Bomb into a Sleeper Hold and held on until Endo backed him into the corner. Sakaguchi went back to the Sleeper Hold, even catching Endo with one after a Handspring. Endo fought to reach the ropes but didn’t move afterwards and Yukinori Matsui had to push Sakaguchi back just in case Endo was too hurt to continue. It turned out Endo was playing possum and he threw Matsui into Sakaguchi. Then he hit the unaware Sakaguchi with a Handspring Kneel Kick. Sakaguchi was too disoriented to defend himself and Endo won with the Torture Rack Facebuster followed by the Sky Twister Press.

There was a meeting of two cultures when Colt Cabana faced Danshoku Dino. Since Cabana was using his “Boom Boom” nickname Dino decided to come up with his own, “Bin Bin” which is a Japanese slang for an erection. There were duelling chants of “Boom Boom” and “Bin Bin” as the two tangled. Cabana tried to copy Joey Ryan’s dick technique but this time Dino was able to overpower it. The match fell apart due to Dino’s shenanigans and the result was a No Contest. Dino continued trying to grab Dino after the match and then decided to strip naked. Other wrestlers had to run in and cover Dino’s modesty with whatever piece of clothing they could find. Dino didn’t care, this was all preparation for his match at Saitama Super Arena where he’ll be wrestling on a global stage. He’s not done with Cabana either and asked him to please come back. Cabana responded in Japanese. He loves wrestling, he loves DDT, he loves Korakuen Hall and he loves DDT UNIVERSE. But he doesn’t love Dino.

Yoshihiro Takayama noticed that Shungo Oyama was sitting at the commentary table and invited him to the ring after his match. Oyama entered the ring and was willing to show respect but Takayama attacked him. Oyama ducked and put Takayama down with a Sleeper Hold.

It is the table and it is still the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion! Kotatsu toughened out the combined powers of Keisuke Ishii and Antonio Honda to keep the title in a 3 Way Match. Honda wore Kotatsu over his back like a turtle shell and used it to block Ishii’s Kneel Kick. He then gave Ishii the Tombstone onto Kotatsu. But Honda was defeated when he swung Kotatsu at the ropes and it bounced back landing on top of him for the pin. Both Kazuki Hirata and Michael Nakazawa attacked Kotatsu after the match but then turned on each other. A double strike knocked both of them out and Kotatsu was left standing… because it’s a table…

Michael Nakazawa was so used to the weather in Thailand that he was unprepared for the cold weather back in Japan. It affected his performance in a match where the loser would be deported from Japan. Nakazawa needed to be warm to do the Ultimate Venom Arm so one by one members of DDT staff offered their underwear to Nakazawa to form a Spirit Ball. Even his wife Keiko offered her red panties and held Kazuki Hirata in place for Nakazawa to strike. Unfortunately Hirata ducked and Nakazawa’s spirit ball of underwear landed on Keiko instead. Keiko was left stunned and she slapped Michael. That allowed Hirata to roll Michael up for the three count. Michael Nakazawa must now leave Japan. At least he still has his home in Thailand.

Things are going well for Soma Takao now that he is part of Smile Squash. They won the 3 Way Trios Match and Akito called for a shot at the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions. However NωA also wants a title shot and although they lost the match, they weren’t beaten. The decision was made to do a 3 Way Match for the titles between Team DNA, Smile Squash and NωA at Saitama Super Arena.

Nobuhiro Shimatani can see the light again and the King Of Dark Title has gone back home to its rightful owner. Gota Ihashi is now a 6 time champion. Shimatani can now compete at the DNA relaunch on 23rd February. He wants to team up with Daiki Shimomura to take on Guanchulo & Rekka.

Yukio Sakaguchi has the nothing but DAMNATION ahead of him on the road to Saitama Super Arena. He and Masakatsu Funaki are set to defend the KO-D Tag Team Titles against Shuji Ishikawa & Tetsuya Endo in Saitama. Until then Sakaguchi will be fighting against DAMNATION with his Shuten-dōji partners.

Soma Takao is now a part of Smile Squash and this weekend is his first match as a member.

Nobuhiro Shimatani has one more chance to lose the King Of Dark Title before the DNA relaunch. Unfortunately he was defeated in his last two defences to Gota Ihashi. Will the third time be a charm?

The newest Tokyo Joshi Pro signing will have her debut match in Coconeri Hall next month. Yuna Manase is from Actwres girl’Z and has been wrestling for three years. She will be be a regular wrestler for Tokyo Joshi from March onwards. Manase recently participated in the Miss Tokyo Sports contest and is not shy to flaunt her body. In fact she appeared at her press conference wearing a white swimsuit and posing for the cameras. She said she is learning about Tokyo Joshi through DDT UNIVERSE and is looking forward to being in the same ring as Saki Akai. She would love to form a tag team with Akai and they can be called SM Gun together.

All that is left to complete the card is the challengers for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles as well as Jaguar Yokota’s remaining partners for the special 8-Man Tag Match. I reckon we will find out who they are at the Korakuen Hall show this Sunday.

It was a mixed day for Smile Squash. They weren’t able to win the KO-D Tag Team Titles but they at least gained a new member. In the tag title match, Akito tapped out to Yukio Sakaguchi’s Modified Cobra Clutch. That was Sakaguchi’s revenge for losing to Akito by submission back in January. Sakaguchi asked who wanted to fight him and Masakatsu Funaki next. Out came Tetsuya Endo followed by Shuji Ishikawa! The DAMNATION team will get their title shot at Saitama Super Arena in March!

Daisuke Sasaki was celebrated his return home to Nerima with a tag team victory over Jun Kasai. Sasaki taunted Kasai during the match by stealing his goggles and copying his salute. Sasaki said Kasai was truly amazing, as expected from such a charismatic death match wrestler. He then stomped on Kasai and said he really isn’t such a big deal. Kasai is not as charismatic as he is. They’re going to have some fun in Saitama.

Colt Cabana’s first match in DDT was a success, pinning MAO in a 3 Way Match also featuring Konosuke Takeshita. However his victory speech was cut short when Danshoku Dino attacked him! Dino accused Cabana of being gay and he wants him to admit it in English! This was Cabana’s welcome to DDT and next Sunday at Korakuen Hall Dino will make sure Cabana will come out of the closet! When Dino left Cabana took the microphone. He said his crotch is bigger than Joey Ryan’s.

Yoshihiro Takayama is warming up to the idea of Danshoku Dino being his new No Fear tag partner. He hesitated to participate in Dino’s fighting style but eventually decided “No Fear!” After that he threw KUDO face first into Dino’s exposed rear end. Dino then put Guanchulo in position for the Axe Guillotine Driver but Takayama told him to hold still. Takayama then pulled Dino’s tights over Guanchulo’s head to turn the move into the Axe Guillotine Danshoku Driver! Takayama told Dino it was a good start for their new team.

Soma Takao is now a member of Smile Squash! He won a 6 Way Elimination Match where the winner would earn Takao’s membership. Before the match began, Sanshiro Takagi gave Takao one last offer. If Takao joins T2Hide they can kick out Kazuki Hirata and rename the unit T2T. Makoto Oishi thinks Takao has a future as a pop idol. Rekka tempted Takao with promises of becoming the ace of New Taiwan Pro Wrestling. Saki Akai said Takao can travel the world if he joins the Oscar Promotion agency. The only person who didn’t appeal for Takao to join his unit was Yasu Urano. That made things awkward because Takao wants to join Smile Squash and the match eventually came down to those two. Takao scored the win and earned the right to join Smile Squash under his own power. Urano wasn’t pleased by this. He thinks Takao joining Smile Squash is a dangerous idea. However Akito is ok with the idea and HARASHIMA welcomed Takao into the group with open arms. Urano then accepted Takao’s induction. If nothing else at least this means he now has a new friend.

The Kotatsu table made its presence felt in Match #2, somehow attacking Kazuki Hirata while Keisuke Ishii pinned Tomomitsu Matsunaga. Ishii talked to the table after the match. Ishii said he fights with pride as the AJPW Jr. Champion so he hopes Kotatsu is the same as the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion. He offered a handshake but then began to stomp the table! He then gave Kotatsu the Emerald Frosion and went for a pin but Antonio Honda stopped the count. Honda then tried to pin Kotatsu but Ishii stopped him. Ishii and Honda then knocked each other out with a Lariat and Bionic Elbow collision, leaving Kotatsu just standing there probably triumphant.

Nobuhiro Shimatani is coming close to tying Gota Ihashi’s record for the most King Of Dark Title defences. Shimatani is more concerned about being forced to miss the DNA relaunch in two weeks time. He has one more chance to get rid of the title on 19th February. If he can’t win that match then he will miss the DNA show. Shimatani tried to pin the Kotatsu table to win the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title but Amon Tsurumi kicked him away.

The main event for “JUDGEMENT 2017” at the Saitama Super Arena is now confirmed. HARASHIMA will put his KO-D Openweight Title on the line against Konosuke Takeshita. It wasn’t an easy task for both men to make it this far. They each had to overcome a tough challenge in Korakuen Hall today.

HARASHIMA had to fend off Daisuke Sasaki in the main event. The build up for the battle between Ace and Charisma saw Sasaki use his tricks to get one over on the champion. However this resulted in HARASHIMA at one point going over the edge and choking out Sasaki without mercy. Sasaki was willing to risk waking up that dragon again for the championship. He attacked HARASHIMA while he was being showered in streamers for his ring entrance. He also Suplexed him from the ring apron to the outside then followed up with a Super Diving Elbow to the champion while he was sitting on a chair at ringside. Momentum looked to be flipping over to HARASHIMA until a wild kick accidentally knocked down Yukinori Matsui. Sasaki hit a Low Blow but Matsui’s recovery took long enough for HARASHIMA to kick out. HARASHIMA blocked Sasaki’s La Mistica Crossface with a Face Kick. Sasaki hit the flash Hurricanrana from out of nowhere but only got a nearfall. HARASHIMA then hit the Somato just as quick. A second Somato afterwards put Sasaki down for the count.

Takeshita’s road to Saitama Super Arena took a big turn when he beat KUDO in the final of the KO-D Title Contender tournament. KUDO threw everything at him but Takeshita caught it all, somewhat literally. Takeshita caught KUDO during the Diving Double Knee Drop and then Power Bombed him into the turnbuckles. He blocked KUDO’s Backspin Kicks and in return hit Big Boots and a Discus Lariat. KUDO was too spent to do anything in return and was pinned with the German Suplex. There were no hard feelings over the result and both shook hands afterwards.

The show ended with HARASHIMA and Takeshita facing off in the ring. Takeshita said it may selfish but out of everybody in the tournament, he wanted the KO-D Title the most. He is ready to carry all of DDT on his back to beat HARASHIMA in Saitama Super Arena. HARASHIMA said he is glad to know his next challenger is prepared. Of course he himself will be wrestling at full power so let’s hope both of them fight with their greatest effort!

Yasu Urano may have charmed his way into an AJPW Jr. Title match but in the end he was humbled by the champion Keisuke Ishii. Urano kicked out of the Tiger Suplex but a stiff Kneel Kick put him away afterwards. Urano said he had no regrets from the match. He’s known Ishii ever since Ishii joined DDT. Now at forty years old and just coming off of being defeated by his junior, Urano thinks it is time for a new start. Ishii now looks ahead to the AJPW Jr. League.

Before Danshoku Dino and Yoshihiro Takayama fight each other one on one in Osaka next month, Dino wanted a piece of him straight away. He chased Takayama through the audience while Makoto Oishi and Dick Togo wrestled in the ring. Dino later used lewd moves on Togo to taunt Takayama while he was on the apron. That backfired when Togo returned to the ring wearing Danshoku tights, giving him the power to beat Dino & Oishi on his own. Takayama couldn’t help because he lost consciousness when Dino gave him the Stinkface. After the match Dino said that 8% of pro wrestlers around the world are gay. Today he was fighting at 70% or 80% gayness. He warned Takayama that in Osaka he will be at 100%!

After Dino left the ring Amon Tsurumi called him back in. Tsurumi wanted to know if Dino had spent the 500,000 yen to sign his dream opponent for “JUDGEMENT 2017”. Dino didn’t know what he was talking about until a message on the screen announced Dino’s opponent is Joey Ryan! That’s not all, Super Sasadango Machine entered the ring and announced he will provide a special international PowerPoint presentation for the match. The presentation will be in Japanese, English, Mandarin and Spanish so many of DDT UNIVERSE’s foreign subscribers can follow it. However, Dino Vs Ryan is a match that could get too graphic. So if at any point the match gets out of control, the stream will cut to a censor graphic of Sanshiro Takagi posing naked. Enjoy!

Amon Tsurumi kept a close eye on Soma Takao during his match. After suffering another defeat Takao was asked to stay in the ring by the GM. He noticed that Takao made great progress when Team Dream Futures disbanded but his win-loss record then became poor when he lost the AJPW Jr. Title. Tsurumi would like Takao to be competing for championships again but maybe it is time for him to be part of a unit again. Takao admitted he had no goal to fight for when he lost the AJPW Jr. Title. Being in a unit again is a nice idea but it may not fix his problems. Takao promised to think about it and he will make up his mind soon.

Shuten-dōji got a small measure of revenge on Team DNA by winning the 3 Way Tag Match. Masahiro Takanashi surprised Kouki Iwasaki with the Bacchus rolling pin. Iwasaki apologised to Kazusada Higuchi for being careless. They lost today but are hoping to beat Shuten-dōji in Osaka when the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles are on the line. Takanashi isn’t impressed by what he’s heard. He thinks they could at least try to make the title match sound exciting.

The opening match was turned into a Bunkhouse Scramble Death Match with Hirata GO! glasses as the object left in the middle of the ring. But when the match began everyone ignored them to fight among the fans instead. Antonio Honda stopped the match again to tell a fairy tale but this time asked Guanchulo to translate it into English for the foreign viewers watching on DDT UNIVERSE. The story turned out to be Little Red Riding Hood except in this version the wolf when disguised as the grandmother says his eyes are red because he’s watched too much porn. Kazuki Hirata wanted all the attention for himself so the glasses finally came into play. But Shunma Katsumata took the glasses from him and rolled Hirata over for the pin.

Nobuhiro Shimatani is now at 10 “defences” for the King Of Dark Title. He was reminded that if he does not lose the title before the end of February he will not be a part of DNA’s relaunch. His next “defence” is scheduled for 12th February.

Colt Cabana will wrestle in DDT for the first time in February. He is already booked for three shows during the month. On 12/2 he is in a 3 Way Match with MAO and Konosuke Takeshita. Then on the 14/2 YaroZ show he will face Antonio Honda. Finally on 19th February Colt goes one on one with Danshoku Dino.

“JUDGEMENT 2017” had some more matches announced during the show. Shigehiro Irie Vs Mike Bailey, a Battle Royal for the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title (still held by comedian Hyota Echizenya), an 8-Person tag featuring Jaguar Yokota and a tag match between Yoshihiro Takayama & Dick Togo against Shungo Oyama and a mystery partner are all part of the card.

DAMNATION will be running their own unlawful show in Shinjuku FACE on 14th April. There will also be a show exclusive to members of the DDT Fan Club happening in Kitasenju Theatre 1010 on 13th May.